*By Kristen Lee*
Stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, closing out a roller-coaster week on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed nearly 300 points lower, while the S&P lost 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq ended down 2.1 percent.
Early Friday, the Dow plunged by as much as 539 points, before paring its losses after authorities announced the arrest of a man in connection with the mail bombing of prominent Democrats. Cesar Sayoc, Jr., a 56-year-old Florida resident lives in Aventura and has a criminal record, according to the Broward County Sheriff.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR, said a "mixed bag" of earnings ー and specifically, weak guidance from bellwether tech companies Amazon and Alphabet ー are weighing on the markets.
Amazon's ($AMZN) closed about 8 percent lower on Friday after it posted better-than-expected earnings, but fell short on revenue and guidance.
Google parent Alphabet ($GOOGL) ended the day nearly 2 percent lower after reporting a jump in profits but also indicated slowing growth.
"In this earnings season, with a market that's very nervous about a whole host of things, you have to hit all three: you have to get your earnings right, your revenue right, and you have to give upbeat guidance ー and when you don't, especially in the case of either Amazon or Alphabet, you're in trouble," Hogan said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
He said the mail bomb threat transfixing the nation is also having an impact. Every significant case of terrorism, and especially domestic terrorism, has cast a pall over the markets and prompted many to stop making investment decisions, Hogan added.
"It puts everybody in a very nervous place," he said. "And \[until\] we get answers, it's very difficult to have a robust feeling about what's going on in the economy and the markets."
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
